An Investigation Into College Students' Motivation In The CALL Environment

Computer assisted language learning (CALL) has been taken as an ideal way to facilitate second language acquisition in recent years (e.g. Egbert, 1999; Gu, 1995; Jonassen, 1999; Kenning & Kenning, 1990; Pennington, 1996; Warschauer, 2000; etc.). This thesis investigates college students' motivation level in the CALL environment to find out students' perception of learning in the CALL environment and how the CALL environment affects students' motivation. By discussing the results, this thesis aims to explore how the four aspects of the ARCS Model of Motivation (Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction) and the subdivisions of the four aspects of the ARCS Model affect students' motivation level.In the study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are employed. The quantitative data are collected from a questionnaire. Besides, interviews and class observation notes are employed as qualitative data.The major findings of the study can be summarized as follows:First, students are highly motivated in the CALL environment.Second, the four aspects of the ARCS Model of Motivation and the subdivisions of the model exert different influences on students' motivation level.Third, students have positive perception to learning English in the CALL environment.Fourth, the frequency of using the online courseware is an important element influencing students' motivation.Based on the findings, the writer concludes that students are highly motivated in the CALL environment while learning English in the Chinese context and thus its related issues are worth further researching.The thesis finally reveals some implications for the effective application of CALL in the Chinese context and points out some limitations of this study.